CEOs expect planner consolidation
Chief executives working in the financial services industry are expecting further consolidation and a reduction in planner numbers, according to the latest survey conducted by the Financial Services Council and accounting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC).
While examining issues across the financial services sector, the survey looked in detail at the recommendations of the Ripoll Inquiry and the Government’s response to it, the Future of Financial Advice (FOFA), and concluded that most CEOs believed that consolidation had become inevitable.
The survey found that CEOs generally supported the proposals set out in FOFA, because the regulation of investment advice and promotion of a simple advice model free of conflicts of interest would help to restore confidence in superannuation.
It said the CEOs considered the most important reforms in FOFA to be a legislated fiduciary duty for financial advisers, removal of conflicted remuneration structures and expansion of simple advice provided in superannuation.
However, the survey said that the CEOs had observed that there would likely be a fundamental impact on advice models by responding to the FOFA requirements, and as a result, some commented that they were unsure what the business structure would be in five years’ time.
The research analysis said the CEOs had commented that the FOFA proposals would likely lead to increased consolidation, with a potential reduction in the number of advisers, thereby putting more pressure on the availability of advice.
AUTHOR
Mike Taylor
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